Microprocessors may use electrical interconnects to communicate with off-chip devices. The interconnects may be in the form of copper strip lines or micro strips. The bandwidth supported by such electrical interconnects may be limited due to because signal attenuation, which may increase with increasing frequency and distance. This limitation on bandwidth may cause a signal bottleneck at the interconnect.
Optical interconnects may be used as an alternative to electrical interconnects. Optical interconnects use photons instead of electrons to move signals. Optical interconnects may offer high bandwidth over relatively large distances while reducing the signal attenuation, electromagnetic interference (EMI), and crosstalk associated with electrical interconnects.